Goodbye, My Friend
by M.W. Roach
Summary: Tommy's reaction to the loss of his beloved old dog, Spike. One-shot.


**Goodbye, My Friend**

_**By: M.W. Roach**_

* * *

It was midnight in the Pickles house. Upstairs, Tommy lay in his bed, snoring lightly, but in a deep, sound sleep. Dil, in his own room, flopped around in his bed, kicking off his sheets and muttering something about aliens, though in just as deep of a slumber as his brother. Stu and Didi slept noiselessly in their bed, Stu's arm lovingly draped over his wife. But down stairs, Spiffy sat, panting, looking on at Spike's body. The pup's sides heaved as he drew in rapid breaths, but Spike lay still, quiet, and lifeless.

* * *

Tommy woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. He sat up and yawned, blissfully unaware of what awaited him downstairs. He went to the bathroom, showered, brushed his teeth, ran a comb through his hair, then got dressed. He grabbed his backpack, laden with books, and trotted down the stairs.

"Hey, mom! What's for breakfast?" He called. There came no answer.

He dropped his backpack and casually walked into the kitchen.

"Mom? Dad? You guys up yet?" He looked inside, but no one was there. "Dil?"

Silence was the only response he received.

"Where the heck is everyone?"

Suspicious now, he walked into the backyard. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips upon seeing his family, but the instant he stepped towards them, he could feel an ominous disaster in the air. He paused for a moment, studying the sullen and crouched forms of his father, mother and brother. Nervously, he proceeded forward.

"What's wrong, guys?"

His heart skipped a beat when his family turned to him, their eyes full of tears. It was Didi who tried to speak first.

"Oh, Tommy...I..I..." But she couldn't find the words. She began sobbing uncontrollably. Stu took her into his arms, burying his face into her hair in hopes of drowning out his own cries.

"T..." Dil whimpered through torrents of tears. "It's Spike." He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

Tommy need hear no more. He knew what had happened. Spike's body lay before them; cold, stiff and without life. Tommy's beloved dog was dead.

A wave of nausea hit him, and he felt faint. His knees shook first, followed by convulsions of the rest of his body. He found it impossible to breath for a moment. Finally, his vision became blurred as the tears came flowing out like waterfalls of despair.

He spoke not another word, but turned and ran. He bolted into the house, dashed up the stairs into his room and slammed the door. He leapt onto his bed and, like he did in his infant days, he wailed, anguishing in his desperate sadness.

Not 10 minutes went by before he heard several groups of feet clamoring up towards his room. He thought it was his parents.

"Please...just leave me alone right now." His muffled calls pleaded from his pillow.

His door opened. Annoyed, he lifted his reddened face from his now drenched pillow.

"I said..." He stopped short. In his room stood Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Kimi and Suzie.

All of them were crying.

"What're you guys doing here?" Tommy asked, trying to recompose himself by fleetingly forgetting about the tragedy of the morning.

Chuckie spoke first.

"We came here to get you for school...and we heard what happened." He stopped to clean the steam, caused by his hot tears, off his glasses.

"We are so sorry." Lil wept.

"He...he was a good dog..." Even Phil couldn't choke back the tears.

The sadness came back to Tommy as his friends all took a seat around him.

"Well, what're you guys crying for? He was my dog, not yours."

"No, Tommy..." Kimi whined.

"He belonged to ALL of us." Suzie added with a sniffle. "Angelica was here too, but when she found out, she ran home crying." Suzie smiled a little. "She said she had something in her eyes, but we know it was because she loved Spike just as much as you did. Just as much as all of us did."

Dil knocked gently on the door, and cautiously peeked in.

"Uh, T...dad got a hole all dug, do you guys wanna come down and say a few words?"

Tommy looked at the sad faces of all his friends. They all nodded in agreement.

Outside, everyone stood around the grave, sharing their grievances and stories of Spike the Wonder Dog. Afterwards, everyone left, one by one, until only Tommy remained. He sunk to his knees, his teary eyes never leaving the fresh mound of dirt. Knowing he was alone, he lay on his stomach, one hand caressing the mound.

"We...we had a lot of adventures, didn't we, boy? Remember that time you ran away, and we thought you'd never come home? Dad tried to fill the void you left with so many pets. A little yappy dog, some gerbils...even a tarantula! But they were all nothing compared to you. And then there was the time we all got lost in the woods, and you rescued us. And before that, you rescued us from that vicious dog that the neighbors had? The time we went to Paris...remember?" He hid his face in the dirt, and cried some more, reminiscing a montage of memories about Spike.

For hours he lay there, until night blanketed the neighborhood. Stu finally came outside, a chill in the air; not from weather, but from the coldness of the dear friend who left them.

"Hey, champ..." Stu said calmly, kneeling by Tommy's side. "You ready to come in now? It's already 8:30."

"No!" Tommy snapped, hugging his body against the mound. "I wanna stay out here...with my dog."

Stu swallowed the sadness that threatened to once again overtake him.

"Listen, I know how you feel. I love Spike too. And I didn't want him to leave, but...it was his time. He was an old dog, sport. He lived a good, long life."

"I don't want him to go, dad." Tommy looked up at his father, his face red and stained with dirt. His voice cracked, exhausted from crying. "I'll...I'll never see him again. I'll never hold him again...he's gone forever..."

A small bark caused Stu to turn and smile. He opened one arm invitingly, and Spiffy took up the invitation and cuddled against him.

"You're wrong, Tommy. You'll see Spike every day. He'll never leave you."

"How's that?" Tommy whimpered, his face once again on the mound of cold dirt.

"Because you still have Spiffy." Stu smiled, stroking the young dog's head. "He is Spike's son after all. He's got a lot of Spike in him, including his habit of jumping on the couch after getting all muddy." He said the last part with just the slightest touch of disdain. "And besides, Spiffy loves you, just like Spike did, and always will."

Tommy sat up, wiping the dirt in an attempt to clean it off, but ultimately just smearing it around. Spiffy approached Tommy with a happy wag of his tail and licked his dirty face. Tommy laughed a little. He held Spiffy's head in his hands and looked into his eager brown eyes. Tommy smiled.

"You're right dad. I'll always have Spike with me. And though I'll miss him every day, I know that his memory will live on in my heart...and in the hearts of my friends."

"That's my champ." Stu said proudly as he stood up. "C'mon. Your mom has dinner on the table."

"Just a second, dad." Tommy turned back to the dirt mound one last time. With one more tear of joy, he hugged Spiffy close. "Thanks, Spike." He whispered. "Thank you for all the adventures we had over the years. And thanks for giving me Spiffy, with whom I'll have many years of adventures to come. I love you, boy. And I'll never forget you."

With that, Tommy stood up, tired, but in the end, relieved that his best friend was at peace. He went into the house.

But Spiffy remained outside. He looked up and, for a brief moment, he could see his father playing in the stars, forever young.

And forever loved.

* * *

_In memory of my dog, Toboe_


End file.
